The Ohio State University has appointed legal scholar Lee J. Strang as the inaugural executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society. Strang is the inaugural director of the University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership and currently serves as the John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values at the University of Toledo, where has been a member of the faculty since 2008.
“Lee is an exceptional constitutional scholar with a wealth of administrative experience, and we are excited that he will join the university to stand up and lead the new Salmon P. Chase Center,” said Karla Zadnik, interim executive vice president and provost. “Our shared goal is for the center to become a national leader in teaching, research and engagement on U.S. civics, culture and society.”
Initiated in 2023 by the state of Ohio, the Salmon P. Chase Center will be an academic home at Ohio State for teaching and researching the foundation of the American constitutional order and its impact on society. As executive director, Strang will be responsible for organizing the center, overseeing the hiring and appointment of the center’s faculty, developing curriculum and delivering academic programming.
“Ohio State’s land-grant mission, exemplified by its motto Education for Citizenship, arose at a time in American history when our nation turned to higher education to bring together a divided America through civic education. Today, the Salmon P. Chase Center will carry forward that historic mission through its courses, scholarship and programming, and become the national leader in civic thought and leadership. I am excited to develop the reputation of the Salmon P. Chase Center into one of national excellence,” Strang said.
When it is fully operational, the center will have at least 15 tenure-track faculty members and provide a variety of innovative educational and collaboration opportunities for students and faculty from across the university. The center will be an independent academic center physically housed in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.
“Professor Strang is the right leader for the Chase Center. He is a nationally recognized constitutional scholar dedicated to supporting open dialogue and diverse viewpoints about American history, culture and politics,” said Trevor Brown, dean of the Glenn College.
Strang is a prolific scholar who has published dozens of articles in leading journals in the fields of constitutional law and interpretation, property law, religion and the First Amendment. Strang co-authored the textbook Federal Constitutional Law, and his most recent book, Originalism’s Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution, is the first book-length natural law justification for originalism.
“Professor Strang engages with some of the most important and profound matters of public concern in a serious, open-minded and rigorous way,” summarized Darrell A.H. Miller, professor at the University of Chicago Law School. “He is a perfect choice to lead the center.”
Prior to teaching, Strang served as a judicial clerk for Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was also an associate for Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, where he practiced in general and appellate litigation. Strang has also been a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University. A graduate of the University of Iowa, he was articles editor of the Iowa Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif. He also holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School.
The Chase Center academic council led the nationwide search for the executive director. The academic council members are scholars with national reputations for academic excellence and come from Ohio and universities across the nation.
“Through his prodigious scholarship, pedagogy of civility and experience at similar centers, Strang has shown a deep commitment to and understanding of the American civic tradition,” said Jean Yarbrough, a member of the academic council and professor at Bowdoin University. “Under his leadership, the Chase Center is poised to become one of our country’s leading centers for civic education and leadership.”
